(RFE/RL)
March 7, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement today saying an Uzbek court has sentenced a rights activist to eight years in jail and dismissing the proceedings as flawed.

HRW says the trial against Mukhtabar Tojibaeva was "unsound" and is demanding that she be freed pending a review of the conviction.

The group says a court on March 6 found Tojibaeva guilty of membership of an illegal organization on the grounds that her human rights group, Burning Hearts, has been operating without registration.

She was also sentenced for other crimes including slander, extortion, and misuse of land.

HRW says the trial fits a "pattern of persecution" against independent voices and critics of events surrounding an official crackdown on an insurrection and demonstration in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon.

Aftermath Of Andijon

A dedicated webpage bringing together all of RFE/RL's coverage of the events in Andijon, Uzbekistan, in May 2005 and their continuing repercussions.